By Dan McKay
Albuquerque Journal
BERNALILO COUNTY, N.M. — It looks like Bernalillo County is stuck with jail Sgt. Torry Chambers, who was accused in a federal lawsuit - settled this summer for more than $900,000 - of raping three inmates.
County Attorney Randy Autio said Monday that unless Chambers, who was one of seven defendants, is convicted of criminal charges, he can’t be terminated. That’s because of how the county initially handled the allegations when they surfaced more than a year ago, Autio said.
The county opted at the time to put Chambers on leave without pay, with the expectation that he could be fired if convicted of criminal allegations, Autio said.
But Chambers hasn’t been indicted and a union contract covering jail officers didn’t allow for unpaid leave, Autio said.
The county agreed to settle a union grievance by bringing Chambers back to work at the jail, with modified duties.
Union President Stephen Perkins said it was the right decision.
Autio said it’s now county policy to ensure that employees accused of a crime receive the proper legal notice to allow discipline if they’re found to have violated a county policy. That’s even if there is no conviction in a criminal proceeding, he said.
Autio didn’t work for Bernalillo County when the allegations against Chambers surfaced in late 2010. That was before jail Chief Ramon Rustin’s tenure, too.
“I would do it differently now, and we are doing it differently,” Autio said.
He added that he didn’t know what information the county legal depart- ment had at the time of the decision, and he’s not necessarily criticizing it.
“It’s always the worst-case scenario for employers, particularly public employers, when you have allegations out there that are not yet substantiated” or otherwise resolved, Autio said.
The decision to settle the case, meanwhile, wasn’t made by the County Commission. The New Mexico Association of Counties, acting as the county’s insurer, settled without an admission of liability.
Whether Chambers will be indicted isn’t clear. He initially was charged in 2010 with raping two inmates. He bonded out of jail while the case was under investigation and was never indicted.
A state prosecutor said the U.S. Attorney’s Office was reviewing the case. Federal prosecutors wouldn’t comment.
Perkins said Chambers had his reputation “trashed” without getting his day in court.
“They did an investigation that was bereft of the facts,” Perkins said. “They rushed to judgment. ... The evidence didn’t bear out what the allegations” were. Chambers now works in an all-male unit at the jail, and his captain has been instructed to ensure he doesn’t have any contact with female inmates, Chief Rustin said. He makes about $45,000 a year, not including overtime.
County comm issioners haven’t said much publicly about Chambers’ employment.
“Sometimes, we really don’t have any choice,” Commission Chairman Art De La Cruz said Monday. “There was no way to verify that he had in fact done something wrong.”
Commissioner Wayne Johnson said he didn’t have enough information to say whether Chambers ought to keep his job. He should be fired if he violated any county policies, regardless of the outcome of criminal proceedings, Johnson said.
“Obviously, you don’t want to be firing someone who’s innocent,” Johnson said. “I don’t know whether that’s the case here or not.”
Copyright 2012 Albuquerque Journal